’Put on the brakes’: Horry County may terminate, renegotiate I-73 contract with SCDOT
Interstate 73 might not be dead, but the project isn’t going to begin anytime soon.
The Horry County Infrastructure and Regulation Committee met Tuesday to discuss a resolution to terminate an agreement between the county and the S.C. Department of Transportation to build I-73. No action was taken, but the committee instructed staff to work out some issues with the current contract with the department.
The original agreement to build I-73 was made last summer, giving millions of hospitality fee money to build the first interstate into Myrtle Beach. Now that local municipalities are looking to claim large chunks of the hospitality fee for themselves, it’s now unclear how much money Horry County can put towards the project.
To help keep I-73 alive, Al Allen, who chairs the Infrastructure Committee, other committee chairs and Chairman Johnny Gardner have met to develop a plan to involve more support.
Before that happens, however, Horry County must renegotiate parts of its contract with SCDOT. Administration is expected to update the council at its March 19 meeting.
Under the current plan, SCDOT is set to give a work contract to Horry County on March 31. Horry County Council would have to approve the plan before the department could start the early phases of completing the road.
“We’re facing deadlines, and we don’t have the money. It’s not fair to obligate this county to one dollar if we don’t know for sure,” Allen said.
North Myrtle Beach, Surfside Beach and others could reclaim their portion of the hospitality fee in the coming weeks. Myrtle Beach already has passed its ordinance.
“It would not harm us at all to put a stay on in order to give the other entities in Horry County an opportunity to come and sit down at the table,” Allen said.
While no action was taken Tuesday, Allen presented some ideas he and other council members would like to see in a new contract that would protect the interests of Horry County citizens.
The committee chair first proposed pushing the start date to January 2020. Allen said extending the date will give Horry County more time to discuss with the leaders of the municipalities of how to fund a road that will affect all of the county.
In addition, he said the State of South Carolina and the Federal Government need to show some support to I-73. The proposed contract would only build Horry County’s portion, but as of right now, Horry County is the only government to dedicate funds to the road being built.
Allen said the State of South Carolina has a huge surplus in funding right now, and some of those funds should go to I-73 since the state also will benefit from the project.
“How’s 10 months going to affect us since we’ve been waiting 30 years on this?” Allen asked. “We need to allow more people to sit at the table.”
Potential state and federal funding
State Sen. Greg Hembree, R-Horry, said assurances were made when the concept of I-73 was first introduced that the project wouldn’t require state funding.
Hembree, who sits on the Senate Transportation Committee, said he feels bound by those assurances even though they were made before he was elected.
Hembree wants to see I-73 built, he said, and he believes the current issue with municipalities threatening to pull funding is just a short-term problem.
There’s a chance Hembree could seek to include state funding in the future because of the project’s importance, but he’d have to be convinced that the original funding formula — a mix of local and federal funding along with a toll on the highway — definitely isn’t adequate.
Federal funding still hasn’t been secured, but state transportation officials recently made a sizable request.
The S.C. Department of Transportation submitted an application for a $360 million grant to fund I-73 to the Infrastructure for Rebuilding America federal grant program, according to U.S. Rep. Tom Rice, R-Horry.
Rice sent a letter of support in favor of the grant to the U.S. Transportation Secretary and pointed out that Horry County plans to dedicate $300 million to the project.
“In my opinion, I-73 is the most important piece of infrastructure needed in my district,” he said, adding that he’s hopeful construction on the road will begin during the next 2-3 years.
More local oversight
Allen also proposed rewriting the contract to give local government more oversight on I-73’s construction. Currently, Horry County Council will budget money to SCDOT to make purchases without direct approval from the council.
He and other council members would like to have more oversight over what SCDOT is purchasing to make sure Horry residents are getting their money’s worth.
Council members Paul Prince and Bill Howard both agreed, adding the needs of Horry County residents ought to come first. They cited other road projects, public safety and infrastructure as other needs that could use more funding, in addition to I-73.
“We need to take care of our house first,” Howard said.
SCDOT Commissioner Tony Cox spoke to the committee during public comment. He asked the committee to delay the conversation to terminate the contract until leaders had more time to talk.
After the meeting, Cox said he was pleased to see council take a slow approach moving forward. He reiterated he has faith in the leaders in Horry County to figure out a plan that will be beneficial for the whole region.
“Put on the brakes and slow down a little bit,” Cox asked the council.
